


Dreams of clean teeth

by piggy09



Series: Obscure Word Fics [4]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, I mean this could happen someday but don't hold your breath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2018-01-10 02:44:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1153826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/piggy09/pseuds/piggy09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You haven’t taken your eyes off Alison since Sarah brought you to her house, shoved you in the door and spat a quick stream of words at the mockery – the <i>woman</i> as she left, <i>I’m so sorry Alison I promise she’s not gonna do anythin’ crazy okay maybe keep your glue gun out just in case but thanks so much for doin’ this I really owe you one I’ll see you in a few hours</i> and then she was <i>gone</i>, and you were alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreams of clean teeth

**Author's Note:**

> From a prompt on Tumblr:  
> "Alison & Helena | Dystopia: an imaginary place of total misery. A metaphor for hell."
> 
> This deviated a bit from that, but when doesn't anything deviate when Helena's involved.

_Sit_ , Sarah said. _Wait_ , Sarah said. Her eyes had been very big and very serious, like shallow graves in her face. You wanted to lick them, a little, but you also wanted Sarah to love you and if you did what she said she would love you more. Doing what Tomas said never made him love you more, but _not_ doing what he said hurt and hurt and hurt. So you will do as Sarah says, and sit, and wait, and not break the monstrosity flitting around this big empty house like a fly. Devil’s beasts.

It – she – she keeps looking at you out of the corner of her eye, like a nervous animal. This is possibly because you haven’t taken your eyes off her since Sarah brought you to her house, shoved you in the door and spat a quick stream of words at the mockery – the _woman_ as she left, _I’m so sorry Alison I promise she’s not gonna do anythin’ crazy okay maybe keep your glue gun out just in case but thanks so much for doin’ this I really owe you one I’ll see you in a few hours_ and then she was _gone_ , and you were alone.

A-li-son is possibly alarmed because you have not moved away from the door. But what if you get lost and Sarah never finds you again? What if this place swallows you and burns you in hellfire and you are never able to leave? It’s not safe. You crouch by the door and eye her sullenly as she moves back and forth without purpose. Suddenly she stops, and fingers the cross on her neck (blasphemy blasphemy blasphemy BLASPHEMY BLASPHEMY but Sarah trusts her and you trust Sarah and you _cannot kill her_ or Sarah will be angry with you), and turns to you.

“Helena,” she says, and the sound of your name in her trembling voice makes saliva flood in your mouth. You want to spit on the tile. The urge must show in your face. You wonder if she knows that you can see her hand twitching for the gun in her pocket. Does she think you won’t be able to stop her from grabbing it?

Oh, she is lucky Sarah cares for her.

She continues brightly, her pupils large with fear. “Would you like a snack? I have juiceboxes.”

You think suddenly about when you read about Eve, and the snake, and the apple. Your head tilts to the side automatically. A-li-son looks like a snake, with her dead eyes and her bright pink scales. Bright colors mean poison. You were told that before you broke the first abomination. To take food from this woman would be sin, you think, sin like Tomas said.

…But Tomas is gone. And your stomach is rolling, clawing at the inside of you. You are used, now, to eating. To not eat would be…unpleasant.

You can’t quite bring yourself to ask for anything from this snake, though. You nod, very short, and then look away like you can pretend it didn’t happen. Maybe God will not strike you down, because you are so hungry.

“Alrighty then,” breathes Alison, and she slithers away to get you food. You are left alone in this big house, empty of people and sound. It smells nice. It smells like being clean. It smells like Sarah’s pillow. You uncurl from where you were sitting by the door and walk a few steps deeper into the house, your mouth open and your hand on the wall so you don’t lose yourself. You carefully open a door and see bright colors. _Temp-ta-tion_ , Tomas said, but Tomas is _gone_ and you could break this woman in a second so you walk inside the next room. There is a rack of scissors. You spin it. Picking up a pair, you delicately open and close them. Oh, you like these very much.

One time, when Sarah was gone, Kira let you use her arts and crafts set. You want to bring her home these scissors. You think she would like them, and smile at you, and tell you that you are good.

You stick a pair in the pocket of your jacket and leave, closing the door behind you without a sound. You’re settled back by the door by the time Alison comes down the stairs, her gestures jerky. You have to swallow, over and over, or you will scream at her. Sarah loves you, though. Sarah thinks you can be good. You can be good.

Besides, it smells good in here for a place containing such evils.

“Here you go!” she says, handing you a box with a plastic straw attached. You rip the straw out of its wrapper with your teeth and look at it. You wiggle it a little. It bends! Truly, there are miracles everywhere. You stick it in the box and slurp, and your mouth floods with sweetness. It is so sweet! It is so good! You hum a little around the straw and narrow your eyes at Alison, who is beginning to smile. She has not earned the _right_ to laugh at you – oh, another juicebox. Now perhaps she has earned the right to laugh at you. You do not smile at her, but you blink your eyes back to normal.

“Right, then,” she sighs, and rattles what looks like candy into her mouth. When she sees you eyeing the candy her knuckles turn white around it. You slurp the dregs out of your juicebox and burp.

“Thank you,” you say, and she smiles a little.

You find that you may even mean it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Now we're wearing long sleeves and the heating comes on  
> (You buy me orange juice)  
> We're getting good at this  
> Dreams of clean teeth  
> But I can tell that you're tired  
> But you keep the car on  
> While you're waiting out front  
> \--"400 Lux," Lorde


End file.
